Chemical Foreign Trade in 1939’ Effect of War Conditions OTTO WILSON . .
3025 Fifteenth Street, N W., Washington, D. C .
As might have been expected in a year of such drastic trade dislocations, the changes in both imports and exports were unevenly distributed among the various groups. Fertilizers suffered more severely than any other important group, exports showing but little gain in the face of the general big increase in chemical sales, and imports declining by 11 per cent. Coal-tar products benefited most by the new conditions, exports increasing almost one half. Sales of industrial chemicals abroad also took a long stride forward, while medicinals and pharmaceuticals enjoyed a much brisker trade, both in purchases and in sales. Gains or losses in the various chemical groups are shown in Table 11. A few of the leading items in each group, with gains or losses in 1939 as compared with 1938, are discussed in the following sections.
HE long-discussed question as to the effect on American business of a possible outbreak of war in Europe has received a partial answer in the shape of 1939 foreign trade returns for this country, recently released by the Department of Commerce. These figures shorn that, for the 4-month period from the first of September, when the war began, to the end of December, total exports of merchandise from the United States were 21 per cent and total imports for consumption 24 per cent higher than in the corresponding 4 months of 1938. For the whole year, exports of merchandise were 2 per cent above those of 1938 and imports were 17 per cent higher than in the previous year. An augury for the 1940 trade is seen in the fact that in December, 1939, our exports were 37 per cent more than in December, 1938, and our imports 40 per cent more. Exports in December were the highest for any one month since March, 1930. The larger outflow of American goods was due only in part to shipments of war materials, such as aircraft, automobiles, and machinery, to Europe. I n part it was due t o heavier shipments to neutral countries to fill the vacuum left by the sudden withdrajyal of normal imports from the belligerent countries. During the September-December period, shipments to Canada were 43 per cent higher than in the corresponding months of 1938. To Latin America they were 42 per cent higher and to Scandinavian countries 67 per cent above the previous year. Foreign trade in chemical commodities likewise reflected abnormal world conditions, chiefly in exports. Sales of chemical commodities abroad reached a new high and surpassed those of 1938 by almost 30 per cent. Imports, on the other hand, were only slightly above the total for the preceding year. December exports of chemical goods in 1939 were almost double those for December, 1938, being valued a t $19,502,000 as compared with $11,475,000; imports, $6,763,000, were practically the same as in 1938. Totals for the past year, with comparative figures for earlier years, are given in Table I. All classes of chemicals and related products shared in the general gain in exports, and all but fertilizers and the minor group of explosives shared in the import increase.
T
TABLE11. FOREIGN TRADEIN CHEMICALS AND RELATED PRODUCTS BY GREATGROUPS(IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS) Increase
Imports
Exports
Year
Imports
Exports
1920 1930 1031
5144,063 112.070 82.738 47.862 59.287
8151,992 127.770 100,027 70,348 76,771 92,565
1938 1936 1937 1938 1939
5 68,716
$103,092 116,902 139,447 128.910 164,658
1832
1933 1034
G.5,11 i
79,975 102,571 78,021 79,479
Imports Coal-tar products Rledicinals and pharmaceutioals Industrial chemicals Pigments, paints, and varnishes Fertilizers and materials Explosives Soaps and toilet preparations
193s $15,970 4,328 16,794 1,368 36,496 655 2,409
1939 $18,942 5,506 17,632 1,519 32,465 410 3,015
or
%
Exports Coal-tar products Medicinals and pharmaceuticals Industrial chemical specialties Industrial chemicals Pigments. paints, and varnishes Fertilizers and materials Explosives, fuses, etc. SoaDs Toiiet preparations
9,890 17,079 28,953 25,173 18,655 16,531 3,666 2,797 6,166
14,612 22,317 36,041 36,514 22,761 17,141 4,999 3,448 6,823
+I9 +27 +5
2::
- 37 +25 +48 +30
+24 +45 +22 +4 +36 +23 17
+
COAL-TAR PRODUCTS
The import trade in coal-tar products was marked by a heavy increase in the subgroup “colors, dyes, stains, color acids, and color bases”, which rose from a value of 85,062,000 in 1938 to $8,058,000 in 1939. The volume of the trade showed a similar advance, the 1938 figure of 3,317,000 pounds being increased to 5,138,000 pounds last year. Dead or creosote oil, on the other hand, became the second most important item of this group when incoming shipments reached a value of only $5,769,000 as against $6,316,000 for the previous year. Other crudes also fell off, the 1939 valuation of $1,442,000 comparing with $1,754,000 in 1938, while acids and other intermediates rose to a value of $3,067,000 from a 1938 trade of $2,270,000. The export trade also \\as featured by a striking gain in one class of coal-tar pioducts. Colors, dyes, stains, and color lakes were sold abroad to a total quantity of 13,716,000 pounds valued a t $6,432,000, as compared with a 1938 trade of 8,576,000 pounds valued a t $3,825,000. In December alone the value of these exports was %1,160,000. Other changes in this group were not so marked, the general tenden cy being toward increased trade.
TABLEI. E. s. FOREIGN TRADE IS CHEMICALS A S D RELATED PRODUCTS (IS T r ~ o u s a x O ~ Fs DOLLARS) Year
(f)
(-),
Decrease
1 Foreign trade Egures for both 1938 and 1939 are preliminary, as the government has not yet published final figures f o r either year. Final figures, however, usuall3- s h u n few changes from those fitst issued.
421
422
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
VOL. 32, NO. 3
TABLE111. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF INDVSTRIAL CHEMICALS (IN THOVSANDS) -1938Imports Pounds Acetylene, butylene, ethylene, and propj lene derivatives 1,202 Acids and anhydrides Acetic or p).rc.ligneous 6,356 Arsen,ious (white arsenic) 28.476 Fi,rniic 588 Oxalic~ 570 Sulfiiric (oil of vitriol) 2,780 Tartaric All other 1‘,087 Alcohols, includina fusel oil Ammnnium compounds, n. e. s.b Chloride (muriate) 6.583 Nitrate 3,330 All other 633 Barium compound8 962 Calcium compounds 755 Cellulose products, n. e. 8.) Acetate 4 All other Sheets more than 0.003 inch thick and other forms 59 Sheets. bands, and strips more thnn 1 inch wide, not over 0.003 inch thick 36 Camphor Natural. crude 784 Natural. refined 719 Synthetic 564 Cobalt oxide 373 ‘Copper sulfate (blue vitriol), oopper cuntent 41 Glycerol 13,098 ’ Crude 2,M7 ’ Refined ’Iodine, crude 571 1.860 Lime, chlorinated, or bleachingpowder Magnesium compounds 9,199 Potassium compounds, n. e. s.b Carbonate 583 Chlorate and perchlorate 13,696 Creani of tartar 36 Cyanide 84 Hydroxide (caustic) 973 Argols. tartar, and wine leea 317,745 All other 3,130 Sodium compounds, n. e. s.b Sulfate (salt cake), tons 127 Sulfate, anhydroua and crystallized, 6 tons Chlorate 5,15G 26,387 Cyanide 1344 Ferrooyanide (yellow prussiate) Nitrite 60 2 Phosphates (except pyrophosphate) 90 All other 598C Radium salts, m & Other industrial chemicals
...
...
Value
-1939Pounds
Value
0 232
1,627
S 342
338 608 41 28 19
iii
1.439 20.348 522 183 4,206 116 4,515
60 562 28 9 27 25 152
160 46 66 43 22
8,487 2,125 1,161 1.0,53 2,631
191 31 109 40 74
...
1
5
7
7
51
82
46
9
71
16
237 329 207 519
1,157 81s 528 681
323 329 213 945
7 1,028 219 464 48 167
...
...
10,985 310 200 1.323 7,144
729 29 168 47 159
31 808 5 30 79 2,472 231
434 11,956 6 102 663 17,370 6,619
24 663 1 36 62 1,217 404
1,332
133
1,395
117 220 2,404 79
5 3,739 42.686 1,412 50 12 12,201 79
100 136 3,123 83 1 1 419 1,954 3,353
:
431 787 2,740
...
MEDICINALS AND PHARMACEUTICALS Imports in all classes of these goods were higher except menthol and preparations in capsules, pills, tablets, etc. There were no radical changes, however, from the 1938 trade. All but three items under this heading shared in the general gains in exports. Vaccines for human use, remedies for malaria, chills, and fever, and digestive preparations showed small decreases. The largest proportionate gain was in medicinal and reagent chemicals, the 1939 value of which was $1,074,000 as compared with $320,000 in 1938. Tablets, pills, capsules, powders, ointments, and similar manufactures, comprising a single trade item, had the largest total in this group, reaching $3,957,000 as compared with $2,805,000 in the previous year. A new item in the list for 1939 was “Vitamins and vitasterols”, credited with sales of $830,000. CHEMICAL SPECIALTIES Increases in this group (an export group only) were well distributed among the various items, although several articles also registered a somewhat smaller trade. The three largest export items showed considerable gains. Synthetic gums and resins in powder, flake, or liquid form were valued a t $2,378,000 as compared with $1,328,000 in 1938. Pyroxylin plastic film support (film base) mas the largest single export article with a 1939 value of $3,275,000 and a 1938 value of $2,855,000. Cellulose acetate plastic film sup-
Exports Acids and anhydrides Acetic acid (100%) Acetio anhydride Other organic acids and anhydrides Inorganic Hydrochloriq (muriatic) Boric (boracic) Other Alcohols Methanol Butanol (butyl alcohol) Glycerol Other Acetone Butyl acetate Carbon disulfide Formaldehyde (formalin) Amyl acetate Synthetic collecting reagents for conaentrating ores, metals, or minerals Other organic chemicals Aluminum sulfate Other aluminum compounds Calcium carbide Calcium chloride Potassium compounds (not fertilizer) Sodium compounds Bichromate and chromate Cyanide Borate (borax) Silicate (water glass) Soda ash Bicarbonate (acid or baking dry di-, and
-1938Pounds
Value
-1939Pounds
161 322
8 18 32
1,794 540
1,236
211
3,197
565
6.297 11,191 11,515
124 514 504
7,375 18,573 18,464
130 867 676
196 4.286 3,746 16.518 11,212 4,144 3,936 1,765 255
80 360 427 1,537 635 403 184 77 31
1,220 7,619 7,399 21.2’35 23.115 6.828 5,503 3,926 461
473 593 959 2,068 1,562 562 261 177 60
8,489 16,922 55.430 3,541 3,982 48,236
1,431 2,415 578 258 124 397
11,583 22.863 69,467 3,584 8.328 38,765
1,905 3,072 745 208 260 318
5,233 519,986 4,839 1,136 155,038 12,099 102,033
486 10,417 312 149 2,642 204 1,327
7,158 705.563 10,855 2.339 182,278 16,039 160,113
808 14,778 761 295 3,230 253 2,080
b
141 54
20,963
332
31,113
505
4,095
261,000
5,535
7,635 16,197 172
315 1,041 46
8.906 32,920 204
385 1,734 56
2,710 1,889 9,486
294 447 256
1,774
285 2,600
4,836 3.025 12,001 236 1,650
597 675 257 22 308 3,360
4
c
$
200,047
...
0
Value
...
Less than $1000. Not elsewhere stated. Grains.
port enjoyed sales of $1,548,000 last year as against $473,000 in 1938. INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS This important group again took the lead in our export trade in chemicals with a total gain in value over 1938 of 45 per cent. Details of the incoming and outgoing trade in the last two years are shown in Table 111. PIGMENTS, PAINTS, AND VARNISHES Mineral-earth pigments, chiefly iron oxide and hydroxide, were imported in considerably larger quantities, the total value reaching $849,000 as against $693,000 in the previous year. Chemical pigments, including lithopone, zinc oxide, etc., were also higher with a value of $505,000 as against $437,000. Imports of paints, stains, and enamels dropped from $218,000 to $148,000. I n the export trade the leading article, carbon black, had a notable increase in sales, with shipments totaling 203,828,000 pounds valued a t $8,888,000. I n 1938 the figures were 167,968,000 pounds valued at $7,580,000. Second on the export list was ready-mixed paints, stains, and enamels, $4,707,000 in 1939 and $4,240,000 in 1938; and third was nitrocellulose lacquers, whose total of $2,400,000 last year compared with $2,360,000 in 1938. Varnishes valued a t $637,000 in 1939 were well above the previous year’s total, $554,000.
MARCH, 1940
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
FERTILIZERS AND MATERIALS
The full force of the war was felt directly by the traffic in potash fertilizers; the year's totals dropped sharply and accounted for most of the reduction in the fertilizer import trade as a whole. Table IV shows the extent of the reduction. Ammonium sulfate imports decreased from $3,088,000 in value in 1938 to $2,987,000 last year, and ammonium nitrate mixtures from $1,894,000 to $1,810,000. Calcium cyanamide imports, however, rose slightly, the 1939 value being $3,174,000 and that of 1938, $2,996,000. Sodium nitrate also registered a small gain; its value was $11,213,000 as against $10,732,000 in the previous year. TABLEIV.
IMPORTS OF POTASII FERTILIZERS (IN THOUSASDS)
Chloride, crude Kainite Manure salts Sulfate Nitrate (saltpeter)
-1938Tom 199 54
Value
$5372
8
526 113
65 53
2193 1652
-1939Tons 84 19 2
48 58
Value
$2314 155
22 1624 1636
In the export trade ammonium sulfate and other nitrogenous chemical fertilizers were sold to a slightly smaller value,
423
$4,627,000 as against $4,735,000 in 1938; phosphate rock also declined from $6,638,000 to $5,233,000,while superphosphates registered $1,010,000 last year as against $945,000 in the preceding year. Potassic fertilizer materials rose to $4,447,000 from a 1938 figure of $2,600,000. EXPLOSIVES, FUSES, ETC.
This classification does not include explosives in the form of ammunition. The chief import is firecrackers, the value of which dropped from $613,000 to $377,000 last year. Exports are largely dynamite, the value of which in 1939 was $2,857,000, comparing with $2,186,000 in 1938. SOAPS AND TOILET PREPARATIONS
Perfume materials, $1,983,000 last year as against $1,453,000, made up the chief item in the import trade in 1939. Exports of this class of goods comprise a considerable number of soaps and toilet items, chief of which is dental creams. Trade in that commodity was valued a t $1,964,000 in 1939 as compared with $1,812,000 in 1938. Among the soaps, toilet or fancy soaps made up nearly half of the totai value, shipments increasing from $1,385,000 in 1938 tb $1,675,000 last year.
The pH of Sodium Dichromate Solutions
DILUTION EFFECTS
H. J. KAUFMA", W. B. LAUDER, AND R. K. KEPNER I S C E the manufacturers and consumers of dichromate are Mutual Chemical Company of America, Jersey City, N. J. interested in its pH, this investigation was conceived as an opening into what has been a more The pH of solutions of sodium dichromate varied considerably as or less untouched field. In studying the pH of colored solutions such as these solutions were diluted from approximately 4.5 to 0.05 mole dichromates, which are also strong per liter. The curves so obtained were but little affected by the oxidizing agents, glass electrode indistilled water used to make Lhe solutions, but were affected to ai struments are most satisfactory. greater extent by the container in which they were prepared and A survey of the literature reveals tested. Small changes in temperature had a negligible effect. no data taken directly for the purpose of determining dilution effects Concentrating rather than diluting the solutions had no effect in' of sodium dichromate. Much work the weaker ranges, but gave more acidic values in the stronger.! has been done, however, on titrating Additions of sodium sulfate and sodium chloride, two of the several chromic acid with sodium hydroxide. impurities normally present with sodium dichromate, were found, It is conceivable that the point a t to have but a small effect on the pH of the solutions. which 100 per cent sodium dichromate exists-in the solutions of these investigators might give some results comparable to the present work. However, recalculation of their data reveals that no conclusions can be so easily drawn. Furman (Id), Hughes (Is),and Margaillan (22) present their data in a manner difficult to recalculate to the basis of this paper, and Britton (3) worked a t concentrations too low for purposes may be derived the equations: of comparison. Consequently these data could not be properly compared with the present work and have not been included. applied the Debye-Huckel equaNews and Riemann (W) tion to chromate-dichromate mixtures in order to determine the second ionization constant of chromic acid. From the equilibria existing in such solutions,
S
